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THE 



HASTY-PUDDING; 
li J) oem, 

IN THREE CANTOS. 

WRITTEN AT CHAMRERY, IN SAVOY, JANUARY, 1793, 

By JOEL BARLOW, 

MINISTER PLENIPOTENTIARY TO FRANCE. 

Orrme tulit pwietum qui miscuit utile dulcu 
He makes a good breakfast who mixes pudding with molasses. 





WITH 



A MEMOIR 

O N 

MAIZE OR INDIAN CORN. 

COMPILED BY 

D. J. BROWNE, 

ONCER THE DIRECTION OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 




NEW YORK: 
W. H. GRAHAM, TRIBUNE BUILDINGS 

M.DCCC.XLVII. 




a 



MM "" W1MMM,,M " M, *""' MH ' , '" M,1M1 



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T H E 



HASTY-PUDDING;^^ 
2t Poem, I Si 

IN THREE CANTOS. 

WRITTEN AT CHAMRERY, IN SAVOY, JANUARY, 1793, 

By JOEL BARLOW, 

MINISTER PLENIPOTENTIARY TO FRANCE. 

Omne tulit puncturn qui miscuit utile dulci. 
He makes a good breakfast who mixes pudding with molasses. 




WITH 



A MEMOIR 



MAIZE OR INDIAN CORN, 

COMPILED BY 

D. J. BROWNE, 

UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 






NEW YORK: 
W. H. GRAHAM, TRIBUNE BUILDINGS. 

M.DCCC.XLVII. 



■■■ ■■ m u ono goBOOgqi 



-f 






Entered according to Act of Congress, in the j^ear 1846, by 

William H. Graham, 
In the Clerk's Office of the Southern District of New York. 









0* 



S. W. BENEDICT, 
8TEREOTYPER AND PRINTER, 16 SptUCe St. 



THE 



HASTY-PUDDING. 



CANTO I. 

YE Alps audacious, thro' the heavens that rise, 
To cramp the day and hide me from the skies ; 
Ye Gallic flags that o'er their heights unfurl'd, 
Bear death to kings, and freedom to the world, 
I sing not you. A softer theme I choose, 
A virgin theme, unconscious of the Muse, 
But fruitful, rich, well suited to inspire 
The purest frenzy of poetic fire. 

Despise it not, ye Bards to terror steel'd, 
Who hurl'd your thunders round the epic field; 
Nor ye who strain your midnight throats to sing 
Joys that the vineyard and the still-house bring ; 
Or on some distant fair your notes employ, 
And speak of raptures that you ne'er enjoy. 
I sing the sweets I know, the charms I feel, 
My morning incense, and my evening meal, 
The sweets of Hasty- Pudding. Come, dear bowl, 
Glide o'er my palate, and inspire my soul. 
The milk beside thee, smoking from the kine, 
Its substance mingl'd, married it with thine, 
Shall cool and temper thy superior heat, 
And save the pains of blowing while I eat. 

Oh ! could the smooth, the emblematic song 
Flow like the genial juices o'er my tongue, 
Could those mild morsels in numbers chime, 
And as they roll in substance, roll in rhyme, 
No more thy awkward unpoetic name, 
Should shun the Muse, or prejudice thy fame ; 



4 HASTY-PUDDING, 

But, rising grateful to lh' accustom'd ear, 

All bards should catch it, and all realms revere ! 

Assist me first with pious toil to trace, 
Thro' wrecks of time thy lineage and thy race ; 
Declare what lovely squaw, in days of yore, 
(Ere great Columbus sought thy native shore,) 
- First gave thee to the world ; her works of fame 
Have liv'd indeed, but liv'd without a name. 
Some tawny Ceres, goddess of her days, 
First learn'd with stones to crack the well-dry'd maize, 
Thro' the rough sieve to shake the golden show'r, 
In boiling water stir the yellow flour — 
The yellow flour, bestrew'd and stir'd with haste, 
Swells in the flood and thickens to a paste, 
Then puffs and wallops, rises to the brim, 
Drinks the dry knobs that on the surface swim ; 
The knobs at last the busy ladle breaks, 
And the whole mass its true consistence takes. 

- Could but her sacred name, unknown so long, 

Rise like her labours, to the son of song, 

To her, to them, I'd consecrate my lays, 

And blow her pudding with the breath of praise, 

If 'twas Oello, whom I sang before, 

I here ascribe her one great virtue more. 

Nor thro' the rich Peruvian realms alone 

The fame of Sol's sweet daughter should be known, 

But o'er the world's wide climes should live secure, 

Far as his rays extend, as long as they endure. 

Dear Hasty-Pudding, what unpromis'd joy 
Expands my heart, to meet thee in Savoy ! 
Doom'd o'er the world thro' devious paths to roam, 
Each clime my country, and each house my home, 
My soul is sooth'd, my cares have found an end, 
I greet my long-lost, unforgotten friend. 

For thee thro' Paris, that corrupted town, 
How long in vain I wander'd up and down, 
Where shameless Bacchus, with his drenching hoard 
Cold from his cave, usurps the morning board. 
London is lost in smoke and steep'd in tea ; 
No Yankee there can lisp the name of thee ; 



HASTY-PUDDING. » 

The uncouth word, a libel on the town, 
Would call a proclamation from the crown.* 
From climes oblique, that fear the sun's full rays, 
Chill'd in their fogs, exclude the gen'rous maize ; 
A grain whose rich luxuriant growth requires 
Short gentle showers, and bright etherial fires. 

But here, tho' distant from our native shore, 
With mutual glee we meet and laugh once more. 
The same ! I know thee by that yellow face, 
That strong complexion of true Indian race, 
Which time can never change, nor soil impair, 
Nor Alpine snows, nor Turkey's morbid air ; 
For endless years, thro' every mild domain, 
Where grows the maize, there thou art sure to reign. 

But man, more fickle, the bold license claims, 
In different realms to give thee different names. 
Thee the soft nations round the warm Levant 
Polenta call, the French, of course, Polente ; 
Ev'n in thy native regions, how I blush 
To hear the Pensylvanians call thee Mush ! 
On Hudson's banks, while men of Belgic spawn 
Insult and eat thee by the name Suppawn. 
All spurious appellations, void of truth ; 
I've better known thee from my earliest youth, 
Thy name is Hasty-Pudding ! thus our sires 
Were wont to greet thee fuming from their fires ; 
And while they argu'd in thy just defence 
With logic clear, they thus explain'd the sense : — 
" In haste the boiling caldron o'er the blaze, 
" Receives and cooks the ready-powder'd maize ; 
•"In haste 'tis serv'd and then in equal haste, 
" With cooling milk, we make the sweet repast. 
" No carving to be done, no knife to grate 
" The tender ear, and wound the stony plate ; 
" But the smooth spoon, just fitted to the lip, 
" And taught with art the yielding mass to dip, 
" By frequent journeys to the bowl well stor'd 
" Performs the hasty honours of the board." 
Such is thy name, significant and clear, 
A name, a sound to every Yankee dear, 

* A certain king, at the time when this was written, was publishing proclama- 
tions to prevent American principles from being propagated in his country. 



\ 

6 HASTY-PUDDING. 

But most to me, whose heart and palate chaste 
Preserve my pure hereditary taste. 

There are who strive to stamp with disrepute 
The luscious food, because it feeds the brute ; 
In tropes of high-strain'd wit, while gaudy prigs 
Compare thy nursling man to pamper'd pigs ; 
With sovereign scorn I treat the vulgar jest, 
Nor fear to share thy bounties with the beast. 
What tho' the gen'rous cow gives me to quaff 
The milk nutritious ; am I then a calf ? 
Or can the genius of the noisy swine, 
Tho' nursed on pudding, thence lay claim to mine ? 
Sure the sweet song, I fashion to thy praise, 
Runs more melodious than the notes they raise. 

My song resounding in its grateful glee, 
No merit claims ; I praise myself in thee. 
My father lov'd thee thro' his length of days ! 
For thee his fields were shaded o'er with maize ; 
From thee what health, what vigour he possess'd, 
Ten sturdy freemen sprung from him attest ; 
Thy constellation rul'd my natal morn, 
And all my bones were made of Indian corn. 
Delicious grain ! whatever form it take, 
To roast or boil, to smother or to bake, 
In every dish 'tis welcome still to me, 
But most, my Hasty-Pudding, most in thee. 

Let the green succotash with thee contend, 
Let beans and corn their sweetest juices blend, 
Let butter drench them in its yellow tide, 
And a long slice of bacon grace their side ; 
Not all the plate, how fam'd soe'er it be, 
Can please my palate like a bowl of thee. 

Some talk of Hoe-cake, fair Virginia's pride, 
Rich Johnny-cake this mouth has often try'd ; 
Both please me well, their virtues much the same ; 
Alike their fabric as allied their fame, 
Except in dear New England, where the last 
Receives a dash of pumpkin in the paste, 
To give it sweetness and improve the taste. 
But place them all before me, smoking hot, 
The big round dumpling rolling from the pot ; 



_ 



HASTY-PUDDING. 

The pudding of the bag, whose quiv'ring breast. 
With suet lin'd, leads on the Yankee feast ; 
The Charlotte brown, within whose crusty sides 
A belly soft the pulpy apple hides ; 
The yellow bread, whose face like amber glows, 
And all of Indian that the bake-pan knows — 
You tempt me not — my fav'rite greets my eyes, 
To that lov'd bowl my spoon by instinct flies. 



CANTO II. 

To mix the food by vicious rules of art, 
To kill the stomach and to sink the heart, 
To make mankind, to social virtue sour, 
Cram o'er each dish, and be what they devour ; 
From this kitchen Muse first fram'd her book, 
Commanding sweets to stream from every cook ; 
Children no more their antic gambols tried, 
And friends to physic wonder'd why they died. 
Not so the Yankee — his abundant feast, 
With simples furnish'd, and with plainness dress'd, 
A num'rous offspring gathers round the board, 
And cheers alike the servant and the lord ; 
Whose well-bought hunger prompts the joyous taste, 
And health attends them from the short repast. 

While the full pail rewards the milk-maid's toil, 
The mother sees the morning caldron boil ; 
To stir the pudding next demands their care, 
To spread the table and the bowls prepare ; 
To feed the children, as their portions cool, 
And comb their heads, and send them off to school. 

Yet may the simplest dish, some rules impart, 
For nature scorns not all the aids of art. 
E'en Hasty-Pudding, purest of all food, 
May still be bad, indifferent, or good, 
As sage experience the short process guides, 
Or want of skill, or want of care presides, 
Whoer'er would form it on the surest plan, 
To rear the child and long sustain the man ; 



HASTY-PUDDING. 

To shield the morals while it mends the size, 
And all the powers of every food supplies — 
Attend the lessons that the Muse shall bring, 
Suspend your spoons, and listen while I sing. 

But since, man ! thy life and health demand 
Not food alone, but labour from thy hand, 
First in trie field, beneath the sun's strong rays, 
Ask of thy mother, earth the needful maize ; 
She loves the race that courts her yielding soil, 
And gives her bounties to the sons of toil. 

When now the ox obedient to thy call, 
Repays the loan that fill'd the winter stall, 
Pursue his traces o'er the furrow'd plain, 
And plant in measur'd hills the golden grain. 
But when the tender germ begins to shoot, 
And the green spire declares the sprouting root, 
Then guard your nursling from each greedy foe, 
Th' insidious worm, the all-devouring crow. 
A little ashes, sprinkled round the spire, 
Soon steep'd in rain, will bid the worm retire ; 
The feather'd robber with his hungry maw 
Swift flies the field before your man of straw, 
A frightful image, such as school-boys bring 
When met to burn the Pope, or hang the King. 

Thrice in the season, thro' each verdant row 
Wield the strong plough-share and the faithful hoe — 
The faithful hoe, a double task that takes, 
To till the summer corn, and roast the winter cakes. 

Slow springs the blade, while eheck'd by chilling rains, 
Ere yet the sun the seat of Cancer gains ; 
But when his fiercest fires emblaze the land, 
Then start the juices, then the roots expand ; 
Then, like a column of Corinthian mould, 
The stalk struts upward, and the leaves unfold ; 
The bushy branches all the ridges fill, 
Entwine their arms, and kiss from hill to hill. 
Here cease to vex them, all your cares are done ; 
Leave the last labours to the parent sun ; 
Beneath his genial smiles the well-dress'd field, 
When autumn calls, a plenteous crop shall yield. 



HASTY-PUDDING. 

Now the strong foliage bears the standards high, 
And shoots the tall top-gallants to the sky ; 
The suckling ears their silky fringes bend, 
And pregnant grown, their swelling coats distend ; 
The loaded stalk, while still the burthen grows, 
O'erhangs the space that runs between the rows ; m 
High as a hop-field waves the silent grove, 
A safe retreat for little thefts of love, 
When the pledg'd roasting-ears invite the maid, 
To meet her swain beneath the new-form'd shade ; 
His gen'rous hand unloads the cumbrous hill, 
And the green spoils her ready basket fill ; 
Small compensation for the two-fold bliss, 
The promis'd wedding and the present kiss. 

Slight depredations these ; but now the moon 
Calls from his hollow tree the sly racoon ; 
x4nd while by night he bears his prize away, 
The bolder squirrel labours thro' the day. 
Both thieves alike, but provident of time, 
A virtue, rare, that almost hides their crime. 
Then let them steal the little stores they can, 
And fill their gran'ries from the toils of man ; 
We've one advantage where they take no part, — 
With all their wiles they ne'er have found the art 
To boil the Hasty-Pudding ; here we shine 
Superior far to tenants of the pine ; 
This envied boon to man shall still belong, 
Unshar'd by them in substance or in song. 

At last the closing season browns the plain, 
And ripe October gathers in the grain ; 
Deep-loaded carts the spacious corn-house fill, 
The sack distended marches to the mill ; 
The lab'ring mill beneath the burden groans, 
And show'rs the future pudding from the stones ; 
Till the glad house-wife greets the powder'd gold, 
And the new crop exterminates the old. 



CANTO III. 

The days grow short; but tho' the falling sun 
To the glad swain proclaims his day's work done, 
1* 



10 HASTY-PUDDING. 

Night's pleasing shades his various tasks prolong, 
And yield new subjects to my various song. 
For now, the corn-house fill'd, the harvest home, 
Th' invited neighbours to the Husking come ; 
A frolic scene, where work, and mirth, and play, 
Unite their charms, to chase the hours away. 

Where the huge heap lies centr'd in the hall, 
The lamp suspended from the cheerful wall, 
Brown corn-fed nymphs, and strong hard-handed beaux 
Alternate rang'd, extend in circling rows, 
Assume their seats, the solid mass attack ; 
The dry husks rustle, and the corn-cobs crack ; 
The song, the laugh, alternate notes resound, 
And the sweet cider tripsin silence round. 

The laws of husking ev'ry wight can tell ; 
And sure no laws he ever keeps so well ; 
For each red ear a gen'ral kiss he gains, 
With each smut ear she smuts the luckless swains ; 
But when to some sweet maid a prize is cast, 
Red as her lips, and taper as her waist, 
She walks around, and culls one favour'd beau, 
Who leaps, the luscious tribute to bestow. 
Various the sport, as are the wits and brains 
Of well-pleas'd lasses and contending swains ; 
Till the vast mound of corn is swept away, 
And he that gets the last ear, wins the day. 

Meanwhile the house-wife urges all her care, 
The well-earned feast to hasten and prepare. 
The sifted meal already waits her hand, 
The milk is strain'd, the bowls in order stand, 
The fire flames high ; and, as a pool (that takes 
The head-long stream that o'er the mill-dam breaks) 
Foams, roars and rages with incessant toils, 
So the vex'd caldron rages, roars, and boils. 

First, with clean salt she seasons well the food, 
Then stews the flour and thickens all the flood. 
Long o'er the sim'ring fire she lets it stand ; 
To stir it well demands a stronger hand ; 
The husband takes his turn ; and round and round 
The ladle flies ; at last the toil is crown'd ; 
When to the board the thronging huskers pour, 
And take their seats as at the corn before. 



HASTY-PUDDING, |(] 

I leave them to their feast. There still belong 
More copious matters to my faithful song. 
For rules there are, tho' ne'er unfolded yet, 
Nice rules and wise, how pudding should be ate. 

Some with molasses line the luscious treat, 
And mix, like bards, the useful with the sweet. 
A wholesome dish, and well deserving praise, 
A great resource in those bleak wintry days,' 
Wlien the chill'd earth lies buried deep in snowj 
And raging Boreas drives the shiv'ring cow. 

Blest cow ! thy praise shall still my notes employ, 
Great source of health, the only source of joy ; 
How oft thy teats these pious hands have press'd ! 
How oft thy bounties prove my only feast ! 
How oft I've fed thee with my fav'rite grain ! 
And roar'd, like thee, to find thy children slain ! 

Ye swains who know her various worth to prize, 
Ah ! house her well from winter's angry skies. 
Potatoes, pumpkins, should her sadness cheer, 
Corn from your crib, and mashes from your beer ; 
When spring returns she'll well acquit the loan, 
And nurse at once your infants and her own. 

Milk, then, with pudding, I should always choose ; 
To this in future I confine my Muse, 
Till she in haste some future hints unfold, 
Well for the young, nor useless to the old. 
First in your bowl the milk abundant take, 
Then drop with care along the silver lake 
Your flakes of pudding ; these at first will hide 
Their little bulk beneath the swelling tide ; 
But when their growing mass no more can sink ; 
When the soft island looms above the brink, 
Then check your hand ; you've got the portion's due, 
So taught our sires and what they taught is true. 

There is a choice in spoons. Tho' small appear 
The nice distinction, yet to me 'tis clear, 
The deep bowl'd Gallic spoon, contriv'd to scoop 
In ample draughts the thin diluted soup, 
Performs not well in those substantial things, 
Whose mass adhesive to the metal clings; 



12 HASTY-PUDDING. 

Where the strong labial muscles must embrace, 
The gentle curve, and sweep the hollow space. 
With ease to enter and discharge the freight, 
A bowl less concave but still more dilate, 
Becomes the pudding best. The shape, the size, 
A secret rests unknown to vulgar eyes ; 
Experienc'd feeders can alone impart 
A rule so much above the lore of art. 
These tuneful lips, that thousand spoons have tried, 
1 With just precision could the point decide, 
Tho' not in song ; the muse but poorly shines 
In cones and cubes, and geometric lines. 
Yet the true form, as near as she can tell, 
Is that small section of a goose egg-shell, 
Which in two equal portions shall divide 
The distance from the centre to the side. 

Fear not to slaver; 'tis no deadly sin, 
Like the free Frenchman, from your joyous chin 
Suspend the ready napkin ; or, like me, 
Poise with one hand your bowl upon your knee ; 
Just in the zenith your wise head project, 
Your full spoon, rising in a line direct, 
Bold as a bucket, heeds no drops that fall, 
The wide-mouth'd bowl will surely catch them all. 



MAIZE OR INDIAN CORN 



INDIAN CORN. 



Synonymes . 

Zea mays, Of Botanists. 

Maize, Indian Corn, Britain and Anglo-America. 

MaVs mt dlndicBl* j France 

de lurquie, ) 
Maiz, Trigo de Indias, Spain. 

Grano d'India, Grano ) 

Turco, > Italy. 

Grano Sicihano, ) 

Maiz, Milho da India, ) r>^ t» 

Milho grande, j Portugal and Brazil. 

Mais, Tiirkischer Korn, Germany. 

Mays, Turksch Koorn, Holland. 

Turkish Hvede, Sweeden and Denmark. 

Tureskoichljeb, Russia. 

Derivations. — The generic name Zea is derived from the Greek zao, to live, 
from the nutritive qualities of this, or some other kind of corn formerly culti- 
vated in Greece or on the adjacent Archipelago. The word mays, and all its 
derivatives, according to Clavigero, have been derived from the denomination of 
this vegetable in the Haitina language, or that of Hispaniola ; but by others, it 
is thought to come from the Lettish and Livonic mayse, which signifies bread 
in those languages. The European names Ble $Indie, Trigo de Indias, etc., 
have been so called on account of this grain having first been brought by Colum- 
bus from America, which was kuown at that time by the name of the " Indies ;" 
and those names signifying " Turkish Corn," took their origin from the circum- 
stance that the cultivation of this plant spread from Turkey to the neighbouring 
countries, and consequently led some writers to believe that it first came from 
the East. 

Description. 

The fruitful maize, in verdant vistas rear'd, 

Its spire majestic, to the playful breeze, 

Spreading its loosely- waving panicles, while low 

The purple anthers bending o'er to kiss 

The silken, tassel'd styles, delight the eye 

Of watchful Ceres. Traits of the Aborigines. 

Maize, or Indian Corn, consists of several varieties 
which are thought to owe their distinctive charac- 
ters to the accidental modifications of climate, soil, and 



16 MEMOIR ON 

culture, rather than to any original differences. The 
plant is described by botanists, as a strong, reedy, 
jointed stalk, provided with large alternate leaves, 
almost like flags, springing from every joint. The top 
produces a bunch of male flowers, of various colours, 
which is called the tassel. Each plant bears, likewise, 
one or more spikes or ears, seldom so few as one, and 
rarely more than four or five, the most usual number 
being three ; as many as seven have been seen occa- 
sionally on one stalk. These ears proceed from the 
stalk at various distances from the ground, and are 
closely enveloped by several thin leaves, forming a 
sheath, which is called the husk. The ears consist of a 
cylindrical substance, of the nature of a pith, which is 
called the cob, over the entire surface of which the 
seeds are ranged, and fixed in eight or more straight 
rows, each row having generally as many as thirty or 
more seeds. The eyes, or germs of the seeds, are in 
nearly radial lines from the centre of the cylinder ; from 
these eyes proceed individual filaments of a silky ap- 
pearance, and of a bright-green colour ; the aggregate of 
these hang out from the point of the husk, in a thick 
cluster, and in this state are called the silk. It is the 
office of these filaments, which are the stigmata, to 
receive the farina, which drops from the flowers on the 
top or tassel, and without which the ears would pro- 
duce no seed, — a fact which has been established by 
cutting off the top previous to the development of its 
flowers, when the ears proved wholly barren. So soon 
as their office has been thus performed, both the tassel 
and the silk dry up, and put on a withered appearance. 

The grains of maize are of different colours, the pre- 
vailing hue being yellow of various shades, sometimes 
approaching to white, and at other times deepening to 
red. Some are of a deep chocolate-colour, others green- 
ish or olive-coloured, and even the same ears will some- 
times contain grains of different colours. 

Geography and History. — Indian Corn, when due 
regard is paid to the selection of varieties, may be 
accounted as a sure crop, in almost every portion of the 



INDIAN CORN. 17 

habitable globe, between the forty- third degree of north 
latitude, and a corresponding parallel south. Its prin- 
ciple culture is confined to the United States, Mexico, 
the West In|ies, and most of the states of South 
America. It is also cultivated with success in Spain, 
Portugal, Lombardy, and may be grown in southern 
Europe generally. It is likewise found to thrive in 
India, China, Japan, Australia, the Sandwich Islands, 
as well as in the groups of the Azores, the Madeiras, 
Canaries, and numerous other ocean isles. 

Roulin, Humboldt, Bonpland, and others, have 
noticed this plant in its indigenous state in America, 
and hence have concluded that it was first derived from 
this country. Mathioli, Cie§a, Zeri, and Inca Garci- 
lasso, have also confirmed this opinion. Fuchs, on the 
contrary, very early maintained that it came from the 
East. Michaud, Daru, and Bonafous, state that it was 
known in Asia Minor before the discovery of America ; 
and Crawford, in his " History of the Indian Archi- 
pelago," tells us that maize was cultivated by the in- 
habitants of these islands, under the name of djagoung y 
long before that period. In the " Natural History of 
China," composed by Li-Chi Tchin, towards the middle 
of the XVIth century, a rude figure is given of the 
Zea mays, under the title of la-chou-cha ; and Rifaud, 
in his " Voyage en Egypte, &c, from 1805 to 1807," 
observes, that he discovered this grain in a subterranean 
excavation in a remarkably good state of preservation. 
M. Virey, however, in the " Journal de Pharmacie," 
refutes these statements, by showing that these authors 
have mistaken the Indian millet ( Sorghum vulgare) for 
maize, and that the grain found by Rifaud, was the 
Sorghum bicolor, which, according to Delile, is a native 
of Egypt. Regmir and Gregory attempt to present 
fresh arguments in favour of the Eastern origin of this 
plant. Among them is the name by which it has long 
been known in Europe, Ble de Turquie ; and varieties 
of it, they state, have been brought from the Isle of 
France, or from China. Moreau de Jonnes, on the 
contrary, has more recently maintained in a memoir 
9 



18 MEMOIR ON 

read before the Academy of Sciences, at Paris, that it* 
origin was in America. The name Ble de Turquie, no 
more proves it to be of Turkish origin, than the name 
of the English Horse Bean proves that that plant 
originally grew wild in Britain. The general cultiva- 
tion of maize, in southern Europe, and the production 
of some new varieties, proves nothing with regard to 
the origin of the species. Nor, where it occurs in the 
East, there is no proof of its having been carried there 
previously to the discovery of America. 

In favour of the American origin of maize, is the fact 
that it was found in a state of cultivation in most of 
the places where the first navigators landed. Colum- 
bus discovered it on the Island of Cuba, and other 
points, where he touched on his first voyage to America, 
Vasco Nunez, in Guiana, Amadas and Barlow, in 
Florida, and Gongalo Ximines, in New Granada, — the 
latter of whom, says, u The principal food of the natives 
was Maiz and Cassave, which first grows on stalks 
of the size of canes, bearing very large and weighty 
spikes or ears, each generally yielding seven hundred 
grains — a bushel of which, when planted in warm, 
moist land, frequently produces three hundred fold. 
The maize is distinguished into a coarser and a finer 
sort, which last is called Moroche, the leaves and 
stalks affording wholesome provender for horses, and 
the grains or kernels, bread for the inhabitants, who 
make it several ways ; for sometimes they boil the 
corn in water, and at other times, parch it in ashes, 
or grind it into flour, which, when kneaded into 
dough, they make into cakes, biscuits, etc. More- 
over, maize steeped in water, boiled, and afterwards 
fermented, makes a very strong liquor." 
All the early historians, both of North and South 
America, give the strongest testimony that this grain 
is of American origin, and speak of it as having consti- 
tuted a great part of the food of the Indians from time 
immemorial. 

Inca Garcilasso de la Vega, in treating of the pro- 
ducts of Peru, says, " Of the fruits that grow above 



INDIAN CORN. 19 

" ground, the chief and principal, is that grain which 
" the people of Mexico and Barlovento call Mayz, and 
" those of Peru, Cara, being the only bread they use. 
" And this is of two sorts, one called Muruchu, which 
" is hard, and the other Capia, which is tender and 
" fine, and is eaten as bread, either boiled, baked, or 
" parched, over the fire. The hard kind is that which 
" has been brought to Spain, but not the fine and tender 
"sort." The corn of the Incas, he says, was ground by 
women, between two broad stones in the form of a half 
moon, from the flour of which, they made a kind of 
hasty-pudding, called Api, a great dish among them, 
esteemed as high feeding, but was not common at every 
meal. He mentions another kind of bread, made of 
maize, called Cara y upon which he was nourished for 
nine or ten years. This consisted of three sorts, 
namely, Cancu, used only for sacrifice ; Huminta, for 
feasts and great entertainments ; and Tanta or bread 
of common use. Boiled cara they called Muti, which 
is also the name of boiled corn. The virgins or wives 
of the Sun, were employed in the evening in kneading 
great quantities of dough, which they formed into 
small round cakes that were eaten by the Indians only 
at the feasts of Raymi and Citua ; for, at other times, 
they never eat their maize kneaded into bread, nor did 
they eat it at their meals, with the exception of two or 
three mouthfuls at the beginning. Their physicians 
prescribed no other diet to their sick than what was 
made of maize. They also made plasters or poultices 
of it, which they applied for the relief of aches, colics, 
and other pains. Of the flour of maize, mixed with 
water, the Indians brewed their common beverage, 
which, by a certain process, they were able to convert 
into an excellent vinegar. Of the stalks, before the 
maize was ripe, they made a kind of honey, and some, 
who loved to be drunk, lay their corn steeping in 
water, until germination took place, and then, after 
grinding, boiled it in the same water, drawed it off, and 
kept it until stale. This was the strongest drink the 
Peruvians had, which was called, in their language, 



20 



MEMOIR ON 



Vinnapu, and by some of the neighbouring tribes, Sora, 
From its intoxicating effects, its use was prohibited by 
the Incas, who made it a penal offence with all who 
drank to excess. 

Francisco Saverio Clavigero, in describing the grain 
of Mexico, says, " The chief, the most useful, and most 
il common, was the maize, called by the Indians Tluolli^ 
" of which there are several varieties, differing in size, 
" colour, weight, and taste. There is the large and the 
" small sort, the white, the yellow, the blue, and the 
" black. » 

Captain John Smith, in his account of the Indians 
of Virginia, says, u The greatest labour they take, is 
in planting their corne, for the country naturally is 
overgrowne with wood. To prepare the ground, they 
bruise the barke of the trees neare the root, then doe 
they scortch the roots with fire that they grow no 
more. The next yeare with a crooked peece of wood 
they beat vp the weeds by the rootes, and in that 
mould they plant their corne. Their manner is this. 
They make a hole in the earth with a sticke, and into 
it they put foure graines of wheate (maize), and two 
of beanes. These holes they make foure foote one 
from another. Their women and children do con- 
tinually keepe it with weeding, and when it is growne 
middle high, they hill it about like a hop-yard. In 
Aprill they begin to plant, but their chiefe planta- 
tion is in May, and so they continue till the midst 
of Iune. What they plant in Aprill, they reape in 
August : for May in September ; for Iune in Octo- 
ber. Every stalke of their corne commonly beareth 
two eares, some three, seldome any foure, many but 
one, and some none. Every eare ordinarily hath 
betwixt 200 and 500 graines. The stalke being 
greene hath a sweet iuice in it, somewhat like sugar- 
cane, which is the cause that when they gather their 
corne greene, they sucke the stalkes ; for as we gather 
greene pease, so doe they their corne, being greene, 
which excelleth their old. ***** Their corne 
they rost in the eare greene, and bruising it in morter 



INDIAN CORN. 21 

" of wood with a polt, lap it inrowles in the leaues of 
" their corne, and so boyle it for a daintie. They also 
il reserue that corne late planted that will not ripe, by 
lt roasting it in hot ashes, the heat thereof drying it. 
" In winter they esteeme it being boyled with beanes 
"for a rare dish, they call Pausarowmena. Their old 
" wheat (maize) they first steepe a night in hot water, 
" in the morning pounding it in a morter. They vse a 
ct small basket for their temmes (sieve), then pound 
u againe the great, and so separating by dashing their 
" hand in the basket, receiue the flower in a platter made 
" of wood, scraped to that forme with burning and 
" shels. Tempering this flower with water, they make 
" it either in cakes, covering them with ashes till they 
" be baked, and then washing them in faire water, they 
" drie presently with their owne heat : or else boyle 
tl them in water, eating the broth with the bread which 
11 they call Ponap. The groutes and peeces of the 
" comes remaining, by fanning in a platter or in the 
" wind, away, the branne they boyle 3 or 4 houres with 
" water, which is an ordinary food they call Vstata- 
u hamen. But some more thriftie then cleanly, doe 
" burne the core (cob) of the eare to powder, which 
" they call Pungnoughj mingling that in their meale, 
" but it never tasted well in bread, nor broth." 

Mr. Schoolcraft, in his late Report, says, that it is 
conceded on all hands, that this is a tropical, or at least, 
a southern plant. He remarks, that it was not known 
in Europe before the discovery of this country, and 
that we learned the mode of cultivation from the 
Indians, and not they from us. It was cultivated by 
the Iroquois in fields sufficiently large to entitle 
them to the name of agriculturists. It was un- 
doubtedly highly prized by them, as an essential 
article of support, as Mr. Schoolcraft states that the 
warriors of the Six Nations were in the habit of under- 
taking journeys of thousands of miles in extent, carry- 
ing no other food than a little meal from parched and 
pounded corn, relying on the forest for meat. One 
tablespoonful of this meal, mixed with a little sugar 



22 



MEMOIR ON 



and water, will sustain a warrior for twenty-four hours, 
without meat. 

In further proof of the American origin of maize, it 
may be stated, that it is still found in an indigenous 
state from the Rocky Mountains, in North America, 
to the humid forests of Paraguay ; where, instead of 
having each grain naked, as is always the case after 
long cultivation, they are completely covered with 
glumes or husks. Although there has been much writ- 
ten upon the Eastern origin of this grain, it did not 
grow in that part of India watered by the Indus, at the 
time of Alexander the Great's expedition, as it is not 
mentioned by Nearchus, the commander of the fleet, 
among the productions of that country. It is not 
noticed by Arrian, Diodorus, or Columella ; and even 
so late as the year 1471, Joan. Cuba, in his " Ortus 
Sanitatis," a very curious treatise on plants, trees, ani- 
mals, stones, &c, does not make the least mention of it. 
Neither has it ever been found in any ancient tumulus, 
sarcophagus, or pyramid ; nor has it ever been repre- 
sented in any ancient painting, sculpture, or work of 
art, except in America ! But in this country, according 
to Garcilasso, the palace gardens of the Incas in Peru, 
were ornamented with images of gold and silver, of all 
manner of beasts, birds, trees, flowers, and fruit. Some 
of the trees appeared in blossom, some with their fruit 
partially or fully grown, and in others it appeared quite 
ripe, according to the several seasons of the year. 
Tbey also imitated the maize, with all its grains, spikes, 
stalks, and leaves ; and in one instance, in the " Gar- 
den of Gold and Silver," there was an entire cornfield, 
of considerable size, represented with the corn in its 
exact and natural shape. 

The introduction of maize into Europe, probably 
dates back to the time soon after Columbus discovered 
America ; but little attention appears to have been paid 
there, either to its culture or use, until toward the 
close of the last century. An amusing, and in many 
respects, an instructive work, was published some years 
since, by William Cobbett, upon the merits of Indian 



INDIAN CORN. 23 

corn, whose sanguine wishes upon the subject of its 
introduction as a field crop into England, led him 
farther than most people have been inclined to accom- 
pany him. A cotemporary writer remarks that, "Cob- 
bett was corn-mad at one time. He saw too soon by 
twenty years, and depended on cultivation, rather than 
importation. He wrote about Indian corn, planted 
Indian corn, raised Indian corn, ate Indian corn, made 
paper of Indian corn husks, and printed a book from 
the Indian corn paper." There is to be seen in this 
work a very minute and interesting account of the 
various manipulations which must be attended to by 
the maize-grower before his grain is ready for sale, as 
well as very particular directions for turning the pro- 
duce to the best and most profitable account in domestic 
economy. 

The most important feature, perhaps, in the history 
of maize, is its late introduction from the United States 
into Great Britain and Ireland, as a cheap and nutri- 
tious article of human food. For this partriotic and 
philanthropic act, these two nations are highly in- 
debted to the simultaneous exertions of our friend and 
countrymen, Henry Coleman, Esquire, who has been 
engaged for several years 'in making an agricultural 
tour in Europe, and Dr. John S. Bartlett, late of the 
British army, the latter of whom, addressed a letter on 
the subject, in May, 1842, to Lord Ashburton, in which 
he arrives at the following deductions : — 

1st. That the labouring classes and the poor of 
Great Britain require a cheaper article of food than 
wheaten bread. 

2nd. That although wheat contains a larger portion 
of gluten or the nutritive ingredient, bulk is necessary, 
not only to satisfy the craving of hunger, but to pro- 
mote digestion by the u stimulus of distension," which 
bulk alone can give. 

3rd. That the craving of hunger being removed or 
alleviated by the quantity taken, the mind is more at 
ease ; the mental irritability consequent upon hunger 
is assuaged, and man goes to his labour with cheer- 



24 



MEMOIR ON 



fulness and vivacity, becoming a more peaceful citizen 
and perhaps a better man. 

4th. That maize possesses a great superiority over 
rye, barley, oatmeal, or potatoes — not that it contains 
a greater quantity of gluten, but that its constituent 
parts are better proportioned, and consequently make 
a better article of food. 

5th. That, admitted into England duty free, it 
would be a cheaper article of food than any of those 
above named, besides being vastly superior to them in 
nutritive and healthful properties. 

6th. That it can be obtained in any quantities from 
all parts of the United States, and particularly from the 
middle and southern states, on the Atlantic sea-board 
— as New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, 
Virginia, and North Carolina, whose proximity to the 
sea and ports of shipment, give them great advantages 
by saving inland conveyance. The whole valley of the 
Mississippi also yields it in abundance. 

7th. That the people of all parts of the United 
States are consumers of British manufactures ; for in 
spite of national asperities, they adopt the habits, 
tastes, fashions, and dress of their English ancestors. 
This, I think, is a natural feeling in the human 
breast, for I never yet knew a son who was offended by 
being told that he resembled his parent. The imported 
grain then would be paid for in the products of British 
industry. 

8th. That the rapidly increasing population and 
limited superficial surface of the British Isles, will 
speedily render a foreign supply of grain necessary even 
in the most productive seasons — and consequently a 
reduction of duties must ensue ; it is therefore advan- 
tageous to the agricultural interests, as land is becom- 
ing so valuable, to reserve as much of the soil of Eng- 
land as possible for the cultivation of wheat and more 
valuable products ; and nothing will tend to promote 
this object more than the introduction of a copious sup- 
ply of cheaper farinaceous food for the poor and labour- 
ing classes. 



INDIAN CORN. 25 

In closing the historical part of this memoir, it may 
not be uninteresting to allude to another countrymen 
of ours, Elihu Burritt, commonly called " The Learned 
Blacksmith," who is at present engaged in making a 
pedestrian tour in various parts of Europe, and giving 
the result of his observations in the " Christian 
Citizen," from which we make the following extract : — 

I have just got out " An Olive Leaf, from the House- 
wives of America, to the Housewives of Great Britain 
and Ireland, or Recipes for making Various Articles of 
Food, of Indian Corn Meal," containing all the recipes 
I received before leaving home from our kind female 
friends in different parts of the Union — heaven bless 
them ! I have had 2,000 of these Olive Leaves struek 
off, and intended, in the first place, to send a copy to 
every newspaper in the realm. I shall have a thou- 
sand, all of which I shall put into the hands of those 
I meet on the road. I have resolved to make it a con- 
dition upon which only I consent to be any man's 
guest, that his wife shall serve up a johnny-cake for 
breakfast, or an Indian pudding for dinner. I was in- 
vited yesterday to a tea party which comes off to-night, 
where about thirty persons are to be present. I ac- 
cepted the invitation with the johnny-cake clause, 
which was readily agreed to by all parties. So to-night 
the virtues of corn meal will be tested by some of the 
best livers in Birmingham. 

Mythology. — The Indians of Peru and the adjacent 
country,' who existed before the empire of the Incas 
began, were at best but tamed animals, and often they 
were more brutish than the beasts of the field. They 
possessed no right of property, no fixed laws, no religion, 
nor government ; neither did they plough, sow, or till 
the earth, nor did they understand the art of weaving 
cotton or wool ; but dwelt together in small hordes as 
they happened to meet in caves or holes in the rocks 
and mountains, subsisting on grass, herbs and roots, 
wild fruits, and the flesh of man, with no other cloth- 
ing than the leaves and bark of trees, and the skins of 
beasts. In short, they were altogether savage. 






26 MEMOIR ON 

As ever lias been the case with most of the primitive 
tribes of the human race, these Indians .derived their 
original being from divers objects, animate or inanimate, 
of which they entertained respect, admiration, or awe. 
Some who lived near a great lake which supplied them 
with a store of fish, called that the parent whence they 
emerged ; some esteemed the mighty Andes as their 
prime mother, who, from her deep caverns, first gave 
them birth ; and others fancied themselves to be the 
descendants of the great bird, condor, in token of 
which, on days of solemnity and festival, they wore its 
wings fastened to their arms. 

Every nation, province, tribe, and house among them, 
had its particular idol. For their opinion was, that 
one god would have enough to do, to take care of its own 
province, or family, and that its power was so limited, 
that it could have no virtue or extent within the juris- 
diction of another. Some adored whatever they saw in 
which an excellence could be observed, whether good or 
bad. The tiger, the jaguar, and the bear, they wor- 
shipped for their ferocity, and with such submission 
and humility, that they would not fly from them in 
time of danger, but offered themselves to be devoured. 
The fox and the monkey, they adored for their craft ; 
the stag for his swiftness ; the hawk, for agility and 
courage ; the eagle, for acuteness of sight ; while other 
nations were more considerate in the choice of their 
deities, and worshipped nothing except what afforded 
them benefit or advantage. As fountains and cool 
springs, which furnished them with drink ; rivers, that 
watered their pastures ; the earth, which they called 
their mother, because it yielded them food ; the air, be- 
cause it gave them breath and life ; and fire, because it 
warmed them, and cooked their food. Some, also, made 
choice of sheep, cattle, or corn, and everything around 
them, that served most for nourishment, as a god, and 
worthy of divine honour. The inhabitants near the 
coast, made the sea their god, the name of which, 
interpreted in their language, signifies the u Mother 
Sea." The whale they deified on account of its pro- 



INDIAN CORN. 27 

digious size. In the Province of Puerto Viejo, they 
had a his;h veneration for the emerald : and near the 
Cordillera, they worshipped that mountain for its stu- 
pendous height. 

The sacrifices which they made to these deities were 
often as barbarous as the gods were senseless ; for, 
besides beasts, fruits, and corn, they sacrificed and 
devoured alive, men and women of all ages, whom they 
had taken in war. But other Indians less cruel, and 
more mild in their character, though they mingled blood 
with these rites, never took away life, but drew it from 
the veins of an arm, a leg, or the nostrils, according to 
the nature or solemnity of the sacrifice required. 
Others offered sheep and lambs, conies, partridges, and 
various kinds of fowl, herbs, fruits, and maize, so much 
esteemed among them, according to the deity they 
adored. 

These people, living and dying in the manner above 
described, were at length reclaimed by Inca Manco 
Capac, who, probably, was some Indian of a more 
elevated understanding and prudence than ordinary, 
and who, by carrying a refined manner of deportment 
toward them, had persuaded them that he and his wife, 
Mama Oello Hauco, proceeded from the sun, and were 
come from heaven ; and that his Father, Pachacamac 
(the Soul of the universe, or the Sustainer of all things), 
had sent them to instruct and bestow benefits upon the 
rest of mankind. Manco Capac was the founder of the 
Inco.s, who were the native kings of Peru, and who, 
according to tradition, reigned in a direct lineage, until 
they were conquered by the Spaniards, for the space of 
four hundred years. The origin of these kings, the 
majesty and greatness of their empire, their conquests 
and policies in government, both in peace and in war, 
together with the laws they instituted for the good and 
benefit of their subjects, have been recorded by one of 
their own descendants on the maternal side, Garcilasso 
de la Vega, surnamed the Inca. Concerning the origin 
of these kings, he says, that, when he was about seven- 
teen years of age, being one day present with his 



28 MEMOIR ON 

kindred in the imperial city of Cuzco, who were discours- 
ing of their ancestors', it came into his mind to ask the 
most elderly person amongst them, by interrupting him 
in his discourse, the following questions : — " Inca and 
i my uncle," said I, "How is it possible, since you 
1 have no writings, that you have been able to preserve 
1 the memory of things past, and the origin of our 
i kings ? I observe that the Spaniards and their 
1 kindred nations have their sacred and profane his- 
' tories, whereby they learn the time that their own 
1 kings, and the princes of other countries began their 
i reigns ; when and how empires were changed and 
i transferred ; nay, so far they go, as to tell us how 
1 many thousand years are past since God created the 
1 heavens and the earth ; all of which, and much 
' more, they have learned from their books ; but as to 
1 yourselves — In what manner can you retain the 
i memory of your ancestors, or be informed of the 
1 origin of the Incas ? As, for instance, who was the 
c first of them, or what was his name ? Of what 
' lineage, or in what manner did he begin his reign ? 
1 What nations did he conquer, and when did he give 
' a being to this great empire, and with what exploits 
4 did our ancestors achieve their greatness ? 

" The Inca was much pleased to hear me make these 
' inquiries,* because he took great delight in recounting 
i these matters, and turning to me, said, * Cousin, I 
most willingly comply with your request ; for it con- 
cerns you to hear them, and keep them in your heart. 
Remember, then, that in ages past, all this region or 
country, you see around us, was nothing but moun- 
tains and wild forests, and the people in those times 
were like so many brutes, without any religion or 
government, with no understanding of property, or a 
single enjoyment of them ; neither did they sow, 
plough, nor clothe themselves, because they had no 
idea of tilling the earth, and knew not the art of 
weaving either cotton or wool. They dwelt two by 
two, or three and three together, as they chanced to 
meet, in caves, or holes in the rocks and mountains. 



INDIAN CORN. 



29 



Their food was herbs or grass, roots of trees, wild 
fruits, and human flesh ; and all the covering they 
had, consisted of the leaves or bark of trees, and the 
skins of beasts. 

1 And now, I pray that you listen with due atten- 
tion, for I would not be troubled to repeat what I 
am to say. Our Father, the Sun, beholding these 
Indians as they existed in the state that I have just 
related, took compassion on them, and sent a eon and 
a daughter of his own from heaven to earth, to in- 
struct our people in his knowledge, so that they 
might worship and adore him, and esteem him as their 
God, giving them laws and precepts, unto which 
they might conform their lives like men of reason 
and refinement of manners, that they might live 
in houses and society, learn to till the earth, culti- 
vate trees, plants, and corn, feed their flocks, and 
enjoy them as rational men, and not as brutes. 
With these orders and instructions, our Father, the 
Sun, placed his two children by the Lake Titicaca, 
giving them liberty to go which way they pleased, 
and that, in what place soever they stopped to eat, or 
sleep, they should strike a little wedge of gold into 
the ground, which was about half a yard long, and 
two fingers thick, and where, with one stroke this 
wedge should sink into the earth, there should be the 
place of their abode, and the court unto which all 
people should come. Lastly, he ordered that when 
they should have subjected these people to the rules 
of obedience, they should maintain them with reason, 
justice, piety, clemency, and gentleness, performing 
all the good offices of indulgent parents towards the 
children they love ; and that in imitation of him, 
and by his example who doeth good to all the world, 
by affording them light to perform their work, 
and the actions of life ; warming them when they 
are cold ; making their pastures and their seeds to 
grow, their trees to fructify, and their flocks to in- 
crease ; and watering their lands with timely dews. 
And in order to manifest his earthly care, he said, 



30 .MEMOIR ON 

every day I take a turn around the world to see and 
discover the wants and necessities of all things, in 
order that, as their true fomenter and parent, I may 
apply myself to their succour and redress. Thus, 
after my example, and as my children, sent upon 
the earth, I would have you imitate me, and to instil 
such doctrine into this people as may convert them 
from beasts unto men. And henceforth I constitute 
and ordain you king and queen over this nation, 
that by your instructions, reason, and government, 
they may be preserved. After our Father, the Sun, 
had thus declared his pleasure to these, his two 
children, he dispatched them from him ; and, in 
taking their journey northward from Titicaca, at 
every place where they came to repose, they tried to 
strike their wedge into the ground, but to no effect ; 
but, at length they arrived at a little inn or place of 
rest, in the valley of Cuzco, where they again struck 
their wedge of gold into the earth, which received it 
with the greatest ease, and which sucked it in, and 
they saw it no more. Then, said the Inca to his 
sister and wife — in this valley, our Father, the Sun, 
hath commanded that we should stay, and make our 
abode, and in so doing we shall obey his will ; in 
pursuance whereof, it is necessary that we now 
separate from each other, and take different ways 
that we may assemble and draw the people together 
in such manner as we may be able to preach and 
propagate the doctrine among them, which has been 
committed to us. Our Inca, accordingly, took his 
way northward, and his wife to the southward, and 
to all the men and women, whom they met in the 
wild forests and uncultivated places, they declared to 
them that their Father, the Sun, had sent them to be 
teachers and benefactors, and to deliver them from 
the savage life they led to another, more agree- 
able to reason, justice, and humanity. And in fur- 
ther pursuance of the commands of our Father, the 
Sun, they had come to gather these people from the 
mountains and rude places, to more convenient 



INDIAN CORN. 31 

habitations, where they might live in human society, 
and subsist upon such food as was appropriated to man, 
and not to beasts. These, and similar declarations 
were announced to such savages as they met in the 
mountains and deserts, who, in beholding the grace 
of their countenances, the jewels, and the gay attire 
with which these two persons were adorned, and in 
listening to the gentleness and sweetness of their 
words, acknowledged them to be the true Children of 
the Sun, and such as were appointed to cause their 
people to assemble into societies, and to administer 
such kinds of food as were wholesome, and adapted 
to human sustenance. They were struck with such 
admiration at the sight of their figure and person, 
and allured with the promises they made them, that 
they gave entire credence to their words, obeyed 
them as their princes, and adored them as superior 
beings. And these poor wretches, relating these 
sayings one to another, the fame so increased, that 
great numbers, both men and women, flocked to- 
gether, and were willing to follow to what place 
soever they should guide them. 
4 Thus, great multitudes of people being assembled 
together, the princes commanded that provision 
should be made of such fruits as the earth produced 
for their sustenance, lest they should be scattered 
abroad again in small numbers, to gain their food. 
Our Inca taught some of his subjects those labours, 
which appertain unto men, as to build houses, plough, 
sow the land with maize and divers sort of seeds, 
that were useful or fit for food ; to which end he in- 
structed them how to make ploughs and other im- 
plements necessary for the purpose ; he showed them 
also how to make aqueducts and reservoirs for hold- 
ing water, and various other arts tending to the more 
commodious well-being of human life. He employed 
others to gather and tame the llamas and more gentle 
sorts of cattle into flocks, which ran dispersed and 
wild through the mountains and woods, that garments 
might be made of their wool, and shoes of their 



32 



MEMOIR ON 



skins. On the other hand, Coya Mama Oello in- 
structed the women the art of spinning and weaving 
both cotton and wool, to make garments for their 
husbands, their children, and themselves, with various 
other offices appertaining to a house. In short, 
nothing was omitted that would conduce to human 
welfare, which she did not teach her women, and the 
Inca his men. 

i Being reduced in this manner, these Indians looked 
on themselves as much bettered in their condition ; 
and with signal acknowledgments of the benefits 
received, travelled with joy and satisfaction through 
the rocks and woods, to communicate the happy 
tidings of the Children of the Sun, who, for the com- 
mon good of all, appeared on the earth, repeating 
the benefits they had received, and showing them 
their new habiliments, and diet, and relating to 
them that they lived in houses and in political 
society. This relation induced these wild people to 
mingle with their civilized brethren, in order to learn 
and obey ; and thus, one calling and inviting 
the other, the fame spread far and near, and their 
number increased to such a degree, that in six or 
seven years, the Inca had composed an army sufficient 
for war ; and having taught them how to make bows 
and arrows, lances, and such other weapons as we 
use to this day, they were not only capable of defend- 
ing, but also to repulse an enemy, and to compel 
those by force, who led a bestial life, to live in 
human society. 

* These were our first Incas and kings in the earlier 
ages of our empire, from whom the succeding princes, 
and we ourselves, are descended ; but how many 
years it may be since our Father, the Sun, sent his 
offspring amongst us, I am not able precisely to say, 
but I imagine that it may be about four hundred 
years. 
' And thus having satisfied the request you made to 
me, at length, dear cousin, allow me to close by tell- 
ing you, that in the course of my narrative, in order 



INDIAN CORN. 33 

4 that I might not incline you to sadness, I abstained 
* from venting tears from my eyes, which, notwith- 
' standing, drop in blood on my heart, caused by that 
' inward grief I feel, to see our Incas, and their empire 
6 ruined and destroyed." ' 

To this legend, many others of ancient date might 
be added, one of which, is, that the rays of the sun, 
after the universal deluge, first fell on the island in 
Lake Titicaca, before they appeared in any other place, 
and gave a sign and promise that from that spot the 
first doctrines of the light of knowledge should eminate, 
which promise was afterwards accomplished by those 
kings, who preceded them, and taught the world to 
throw off their turpitude, and live according to the dic- 
tates of nature and of reason. By advantage of these, 
and other similar inventions, it was not difficult for the 
Incas to persuade the rest of the Indians, that they 
actually descended from the sun, and to confirm their 
belief by the manifold benefits and advantages which 
their doctrine and religion brought with them. On 
the assurance of these two fables, it is said, the Incas 
and all their subjects did really esteem this island to 
be a sacred and holy piece of ground, upon which, with 
that opinion, they erected a rich temple, all plated 
with gold, to be dedicated to their Father, the Sun ; 
where all the Indians of the provinces, subject to the In- 
cas, generally assembled once a year to offer gold, silver, 
and precious, stones, in thankful acknowledgments of 
the great blessings they had received. And so immense 
was the quantity of gold and silver, which was amassed 
in that island, besides what was cast and wrought into 
utensils, for the service of the temple, that the report 
of it made by the Incas, is incredible, and is more to be 
admired than believed. Bias Valera, a Spanish histo- 
rian, in speaking of the riches of this temple, says, 
that after all the vessels and ornaments were supplied, 
he was told by the Indians of Copa-Cabano, that there 
was such a superfluity of gold and silver, after all was 
finished, that another such temple might have been 
erected without the aid of any other materials ! And 

2* 



34 MEMOIR ON 

that, so soon as the Indians had news of the invasion 
of the Spaniards, and were informed that their object 
was to despoil them of their treasures, they demolished 
their temple, and threw all the fragments and the im- 
mense wealth appertaining thereto, into the great 
lake. 

Those Incas, besides the riches they bestowed, and 
the encouragement they gave for the adornment of this 
temple, did much to improve the sterile land of this 
isle, so as to render it more fertile, and fit to produce 
fruit ; and, in gratitude to the place, on which they 
believed their ancestors to have descended from heaven, 
they ennobled it by bringing it into the highest state 
of fertility and the best of husbandry. To this end 
they levelled and cleared it of rocks and stones, made 
gardens and covered them over with good earth and 
manure brought from afar, and thereby made the 
ground capable of producing maize, which, by reason 
of its elevation and its consequent coldness of climate, 
would not grow in the country adjacent. This grain, 
with flax and other seeds, they sowed in the gardens 
they had made, which yielded good increase, the fruits 
of which they sent as sacred presents to the temple of 
the sun, and to the select virgins, at Cuzco,with orders 
to distribute them in all other sacred places throughout 
the dominions. One year they sent presents to Cuzco, 
the next to another place, and the third year some- 
where else, which were held in high esteem, as sacred 
relics, sowing some in the gardens belonging to the 
temples, and other public houses, and others they 
divided among the people. A portion of the grain they 
cast into the public granaries, and those of the sun 
and of the king, believing that some divine virtue was 
contained in it, and that it would bless and increase 
the corn with which it was mixed, preserve it from cor- 
ruption, and render it more wholesome for human 
sustenance ; and that Indian who was so happy as to 
be able to get but one grain of this maize, to throw into 
his heap, was possessed with the belief that he should 
never be in want for bread in the course of his life. 



INDIAN CORN. 35 

During the high feast, Capacrayni, held in the first 
month, Raymi, agreeing with our December, no stran- 
ger was suffered to lodge in Cuzco, to which they 
again all assembled as soon as the festival was over, to 
receive cakes made of maize and the warm blood of a 
white alpaca, by the Mamacunas, (select virgins,) and 
distributed by certain priests, who, in carrying them 
about in dishes of gold, gave each of the Indians one, 
saying as they delivered it, " If you do not reverence 
the sun and Inca, this food will bear witness 
against you to your ruin ; but if you worship them, 
then their bodies, by this pledge, will be united to 
yours." After which, those that had eaten of the 
cakes, promised obedience, and thanked the sun and 
Inca for their food. 

In the beginning of the month Hatuncuzqui, which 
corresponds to our May, the Peruvians gathered 
their" maize and kept the feast Aymorai. They re- 
turned home, singing from the fields, carrying with 
them a large heap of maize, which they called Perua, 
wrapping it up in rich garments. They continued their 
ceremonies for three nights, imploring the perua to 
preserve their harvest of maize from any damage that 
might chance to befall it, and also to cause that to grow 
prosperously which they should next plant. Lastly, 
their sorcerers consulted their gods whether the perua 
could last till the next year ; and if they did not 
answer in the affirmative, they carried it into the 
fields and burned, or parched it with the view of 
making a new perua, which they bore to their gra- 
naries in great triumph, and mingled it with other corn. 

The corn-plant, or its fruit, also entered into the 
forms, the ceremonies, and the mythology of many 
other tribes, which, from the limited length of this 
memoir, and the want of accurate information on the 
subject, are necessarily omitted. The following alle- 
gory, however, which was related to Mr. Schoolcraft 
by the Odjibwas, will be read with interest by all 
who have a fondness for this branch of literature : — 
A young man went out into the woods to fast, at that 
period of life when youth is exchanged for manhood- 



MWWingri n ■ ■ ■ n i 



36 % MEMOIR ON 

He built a lodge of boughs in a secluded place, and 
painted his face of a sombre hue. By day he amused 
himself in walking about, looking at the various shrubs 
and wild plants, and at night he lay down in his bower, 
which, being open, he could look up into the sky. He 
sought a gift from the Master of Life, and he hoped 
it would be something to benefit his race. On the third 
day he became too weak to leave the lodge, and as he lay 
gazing upwards he saw a spirit come down in the shape 
of a beautiful young man, dressed in green, and having 
green plumes on his head, who told him to arise and 
wrestle with him, as this was the only way in which he 
could obtain his wishes. He did so, and found his 
strength renewed by the effort. This visit and the 
trial of wrestling were repeated for four days, the youth 
feeling at each trial, that, although his bodily strength 
declined, a moral and supernatural energy was im- 
parted, which promised him the final victory. On the 
third day his celestial visitor spoke to him. " To- 
morrow," said he, " will be the seventh day of your fast, 
and the last time I shall wrestle with you. You will 
triumph over me, and gain your wishes. As soon as 
you have thrown me down, strip off my clothes, and 
bury me in the spot, in soft fresh earth. When you 
have done this, leave me, but come occasionally to 
visit the place, to keep the weeds from growing. 
Once or twice cover me with fresh earth." He then 
departed, but returned the next day, and, as he had 
predicted, was thrown down. The young man punc- 
tually obeyed his instructions, in every particular, and 
soon had the pleasure of seeing the green plumes of nis 
sky visitor, shooting up through the ground. He 
carefully weeded the earth, and kept it fresh and soft, 
and in due time was gratified by beholding the matured 
plant, bending with its yellow fruit, and gracefully 
waving its green leaves and yellow tassels in the wind. 
He then invited his parents to the spot, to behold the 
new plant. " It is mondamin," replied his father "it 
is the spirit's grain." They immediately prepared a 
feast, and invited their friends to partake of it, anc* 
this is the origin of Indian corn. 



INDIAN CORN. 37 

Properties and Uses. — There is no species of the 
Cerealia, which manifests itself under such varied forms, 
sizes, colours, and chemical ingredients, as maize. 
While some persons have estimated it in value, equal, if 
not superior, to all other kinds of grain, others, on the 
contrary, have placed it in the lowest station in the 
group to which it belongs. It has been contended by 
some that it contains no gluten, and little, if any, ready- 
formed saccharine matter, and hence, could possess but 
a very small nutritive power, while others have observed 
that domestic animals, which are fed on maize, very 
speedily become fat, with their flesh, at the same time, 
remarkably firm ; that horses, which consume it, are 
enabled to perform their full portion of labour, are 
exceedingly hardy, and require but little care ; and 
that the inhabitants of the countries where it forms a 
large share of their food, are, for the most part, strong, 
healthy, and long-lived. The investigations of vegetable 
chemistry, however, have more recently revealed to us 
many important and interesting facts on these points, yet 
our knowledge on the subject is far from being complete. 

According to Marabelli's analysis of Zea mays, 
made twenty or thirty years ago, it contains a saccha- 
rine matter of different degrees of purity, from which 
alcohol, the oxalic and acetous acids may be obtain- 
ed ; a vegetable amylaceous substance ; a glutinous 
substance ; muriate and nitrate of magnesia ; carbonates 
of potash, lime, and of magnesia ; and iron. 

According to the analysis of M. Payen, maize con- 
sists of the following ingredients. One hundred parts 
by weight yielded 

Starch, 28.4 

Nitrogenized matter, ----- 4.8 

Fatty matter, (oil,) ------ 35.6 

Colouring matter, ------ 0.2 

Cellular tissue, 20.0 

Dextrine, -------- 2.0 

Various salts, -------- 7.2 

Loss, ---------- 1.8 

100.0 



38 MEMOIR ON 

The proportion of oil is evidently overrated in this 
analysis, and the error is attributed by Dr. Jackson to 
the solubility of the zeine or gluten of the corn in ether, 
which Pay en used to dissolve the oil. The gluten 
being taken up by this process, was mistaken for oil, 
and credited in the analysis as such, when it should 
have been put under the head of nitrogenized matter. 
It is not surprising, he remarks that M. Dumas, in 
quoting this analysis, should observe that " individuals 
who eat corn for some time, present symptoms of an 
accumulation of fat in their tissue, which will not ap- 
pear astonishing, when we consider that a bushel of 
corn would yield a quart (litre) of oil !" If this doc- 
trine were true, those Americans, who derive a great 
part of their subsistence from Indian corn, would be 
an excessively fat people. 

According to the analysis recently made in England 
by Professor Playfair, some specimens of corn of 
American growth, yielded, in one hundred parts by 
weight, the following proportions : — 

Proteine, -------- 7 

Fatty matter, ------ 5 

Starch, 76 

Water, 12 

100 

By this analysis it would seem that maize contains 
less proteine or nutritive matter, than wheat, oats, or 
barley, but more than either rice or potatoes. In fact, 
it contains about three and a half times the quantity 
of nutritive matter that is found in potatoes, and a 
much larger proportion of starch, and less water. It 
also contains more fatty matter than any of these pro- 
ducts, which is a very important consideration where the 
mere fattening of animals is taken into account. Hence, 
as an article of food, either for man or animals, it is 
superior to potatoes and rice, but inferior to wheat, 
oats, or barley. It is relished by all animals that 
are not exclusively carnivorous, and certainly is highly 
nutritious. 



INDIAN CORN. 39 

According to the researches of Dr. Charles T. Jack- 
son, of Boston, who stands preminent as a chemist, 
Indian corn, in general, is composed of variable propor- 
tions of starch, dextrine, gum or mucilage, sugar, 
gluten, oil, the phosphates of lime and magnesia, with 
a little phosphoric acid, silica, potash, and oxide of 
iron. Some varieties, however, are nearly or quite 
destitute of gluten, oil, or the salts of iron. 

Among the curious results of Dr. Jackson's experi- 
ments, he proved that the relative proportions of phos- 
phates in grain, depend on the assimilating power of 
each species, or variety ; for an ear of corn having been 
selected, which had on it two different kinds, namely, 
the Tuscarora and the sweet corn, more than double 
the amount of phosphates were obtained from the latter 
than from the former, notwithstanding the kernels 
came from the same ear, grew side by side from the 
same sap, and were derived from the same soil. Hence 
it may be inferred that a crop of sweet corn will sooner 
exhaust a soil of its phosphates than any other variety, 
and if a soil be deficient in these materials, more must 
be added to produce it in perfection. Some interesting 
facts were also noticed by him in the variable propor- 
tions of phosphates in different varieties of the same 
species of several kinds of grain, and a greater prepon- 
derance of them was observed in Indan corn, than in 
the smaller grains, as barley, oats, wheat, &c. — a fact 
which seems to explain their peculiar properties as food 
for animals ; for the more highly phosphatic grains 
appear to be more likely to surcharge the system of 
adult animals with bony matter, often producing con- 
cretions of phosphate of lime, like those resulting 
from gout. It is conjectured that the stiffness of the 
joints and lameness of the feet, common in horses, 
which have been fed to freely with maize, is caused by 
the preponderance of the phosphates. Granting this 
to be true, young animals cannot fail to derive more 
osseous matter from corn than from any other kind of 
grain. 

The horny or flinty portions of corn, when viewed in 



40 MEMOIR ON 

thin sections under a good microscope, will be found 
to consist of a great number of six-sided cells, filled 
with a fixed oil, which has been successfully employed 
for the purposes of illumination. It is stated that a 
distillery has been established in the vicinity of Lake 
Ontario, where this oil is extracted, at the rate of six- 
teen gallons from one hundred bushels of corn, leaving 
the remaining portion of the corn more valuable and 
in better condition for distillation than before the oil is 
extracted. On this oil depends the 

POPPING QUALITIES OF CORN. 

For, when the kernels are heated to a temperature suf- 
ficiently high to decompose the oil, a sudden explosion 
takes place, and every cell is ruptured by the expansion 
of gaseous matters arising from the decomposition of 
the oil, and the formation of carburetted hydrogen gas, 
such as is sometimes used in lighting large cities, the 
grain being completely evoluted and folded back, or 
turned inside out. This property is remarkably strong 
in the pop corn, and is common, in a greater or less 
degree, in all kinds of corn that abound in oil ; but those 
varieties destitute of a horny covering, as the Tuscarora, 
and white flour-corn, will not pop under any circum- 
stances whatever. 

This change in corn is one of considerable im- 
portance, so far as regards facility of digestion ; for, 
after the decomposition or extraction of this oil, it is 
more readily digested by man, though less fattening to 
poultry, cattle, swine, &c. 

One important use of the oil in corn is undoubtedly 
to prevent the rapid decomposition of the kernels, 
when sown in the soil, and to retain a portion of 
pabulum or food, until needed by the young plant, and 
is always the last portion of the grain taken up. It 
also serves to keep meal from souring, as it has been 
observed that a flint-corn meal will keep sweet for 
years, even when put up in large quantities, without 
being kiln-dried ; while the meal of Tuscarora corn 
will become sour in a very short time. 



INDIAN CORN. 41 

The colours of Indian corn usually depend on that 
of the epidermis or hull, and sometimes on that of the 
oil. If the epidermis be transparent, the colour may 
depend either upon the oil, or the combined particles 
of which the corn is composed ; but if the hull be 
opaque, the grain will present the same colour. For 
example, the yellow colour of the golden Sioux is 
derived from the yellow colour of the oil ; and the 
Rhode Island white flint-corn on the colourless par- 
ticles of its starch and oil, which are distinctly seen 
through its transparent hull ; but red and blue 
corn owe their lively hues to the colours of their 
epidermis, and not to the oil. 

The proportions of oil in corn, as far as it has been 
examined, varies from an entire absence to eleven per 
cent., according to the varieties employed. 

When corn is hulled by means of potash ley, a por- 
tion of the oil is converted into soap, and the epidermis 
becomes detached. The caustic alkali also liberates 
ammonia from the mucilage around the germ. 

Oily corn makes a dry kind of bread, and is not suf- 
ficiently adhesive to rise well without an admixture of 
rye, or other flour. 

The oil of corn is easily convertible into animal fat 
by a slight change of composition, and consequently 
serves an excellent purpose for fattening poultry, cattle, 
and swine. Starch, also, is changed into fat as well as 
the carbonaceous substances of animals, and during its 
slow combustion in the circulation, gives out a portion 
of the heat of animal bodies; while, in its altered 
state, it goes to form a part of the living frame. Dex- 
trine and sugar act in a similar manner, as a compound 
of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. 

From the phosphates of grain, the substance of bone 
and the saline matters of the brain, nerves, and other 
solid and fluid parts of the body, are, in a great 
measure, derived. 

The salts of iron go to the blood, and these consti- 
tute an essential portion of it, whereby it is enabled, 
by successive alterations of its degree of oxidation 



42 MEMOIR ON 

during the circulation through the lungs, arteries, ex- 
treme vessels and veins, to convey oxygen to every 
part of the body. 

By soaking Indian corn, after it has been cut open, 
in a watery solution of sulphate of copper, (blue vitriol,) 
the result will give a decisive proof of the presence of 
phosphoric acid. The u chits," or parts containing the 
germs, will be changed to a bluish-green, beautifully 
denning the limits of the phosphates of lime and of 
magnesia contained in the grain. 

By soaking a kernel of corn split open longitudinally 
and thrown into a solution of sulphydrate of ammonia, 
the chit is soon changed to a dark olive-colour, which 
arises from the change of the salts of iron into a sul- 
phuret of that metal. 

By cutting open, in a similar manner, a kernel of 
maize, or any other kind of grain, and dropping upon 
it a small quantity of the tincture of iodine, a portion 
of its bulk will be immediately changed to an intense 
blue, indicating the presence of starch, with here and 
there a deep port-wine-coloured speck, which will define 
the parts composed of dextrine. If the oil is extracted 
from the transparent part of the corn by alcohol, or 
ether, the tincture of iodine will indicate the presence 
of starch in that part of the grain associated with the 
gluten. 

By these means, we may readily cause any grain to 
define the extent and precise limits of each of its 
ingredients ; and by the eye, we can form a pretty cor- 
rect estimate of their relative proportions in different 
seeds.* 

The varieties of Indian corn are very numerous, ex- 
hibiting every grade of size, colour, and conformation 
between the shrubby reed that grows on the shores of 
Lake Superior, to the gigantic stalks of the Ohio val- 
ley, the tiny ears with flat, close -clinging grains of 
Canada, the brilliant, rounded, little pearl, or the 
bright-red grains and white cob of the eight-rowed 

* See Jackson's Report on the Geology and Mineralogy of New Hampshire, 
pp. 255 et seq. 



INDIAN CORN. 43 

« 

hsemetite, to the swelling ears of the big white, and 
yellow gourd-seed of the South. The principal varieties 
cultivated in the United States, which may be distin- 
guished by the number of rows of grains on the cob, 
and the colour, shape, or size of the kernels, may be 
classified and described as follows : — 

Yellow Corn. — The colours of the varieties coming 
under this head, as before observed, are dependent 
mainly on the shades of the oil, as seen through the 
transparent epidermis or hull. 

1. Golden Sioux or Northern Yellow Flint- Corn, 
derived from the Sioux Indians, in Canada, having a 
large cob, rather short as to length, with twelve rows 
of moderately-sized grains, abounding in oil, and is^ 
regarded as one of the best varieties for fattening 
animals, or for human food. By skilful tillage, 130 
bushels have been raised to an acre, weighing 9,216 lbs. 
in the ear. When dry, 75 lbs. of ears gave a bushel 
when shelled. Several valuable hybrid varieties have 
been produced between the Sioux and the King Philip, 
the gourd-seed and the Sioux, &c. 

2. King Philip or Eight-rowed Yellow Corn ; so 
called after the celebrated chief of the Wampanoags, 
of that name, from which tribe the seed was originally 
obtained. The ears, which contain only eight rows, 
are longer, the cob smaller, and the grains larger than 
those of the golden Sioux, and it will yield about the 
same quantity of oil. It is a hardy plant, much 
esteemed in New England as a substantial article of 
food, where it has been cultivated from times anterior 
to the landing of the Pilgrims. From this variety, a 
number of superb kinds have been obtained, among 
which, are a beautiful ten and twelve-rowed hybrid 
from the golden Sioux, and the well known Browne 
Com, improved by my brother, Mr. John Browne, of 
Long Island, in Lake Winnipissiogee. The latter 
variety was produced by cultivating selected ears for a 
succession of years, of the King Philip corn, with large 
but-ends, the second ripe, in the field, and taken from 
stalks which bore more than two ears each. The grains 



44 MEMOIR ON 

of this corn are large, the cob small, and the ears 
usually from ten to thirteen inches in length, with only 
eight rows. It ripens a little later v than the golden 
Sioux, and is very prolific, the greatest crop, per acre, 
that has yet been raised, being 136 bushels, weighing, 
in the ear, 9,520 lbs., or 70 lbs. to the bushel, and 58 
lbs., when shelled. 

3. Canada Corn ox Eight-rowed Yellow. — This corn, 
which is smaller, earlier, and more solid than any of 
the preceding, contains more oil than any other variety, 
except the rice corn, and the pop corn, properly so 
called. It is highly valued for fattening poultry, swine, 
&c, and is grown by many, in gardens, for early boiling 
or roasting, when green. Notwithstanding it is very 
prolific in ears, it is seldom planted in fields, except in 
regions where the larger kinds will not thrive. 

4. Dutton Corn, a variety first brought into notice, 
in 1818, by Mr. Salmon Dutton, of Cavendish, Ver- 
mont. The ears of corn from which it was originally 
selected, on an average, were from eight to twelve 
inches long, and contained from twelve to eighteen 
rows. The cob is larger, and sometimes grows to the 
length of fourteen or fifteen inches, but the grain is so 
compact upon it, that two bushels of sound ears have 
yielded five pecks of shelled corn, weighing 62 lbs. to the 
bushel. With proper management, an acre of ground 
will produce from 100 to 120 bushels. As it abounds 
in oil, gives a good yield, and ripens at least two weeks 
earlier than the Canada corn, it has long been a fa- 
vourite for culture at the North. 

5. Southern Big Yellow Corn. — The cob of this 
variety is thick and long, the grains much wider than 
deep, and where the rows unite with each other, their 
sides fall off almost to a point. This gives the ouside 
ends of the grain a circular form, which imparts to the 
ear an appearance somewhat resembling a fluted column. 
The grain contains less oil and more starch than the 
northern flinty kinds, yet its outward texture is some- 
what solid, flinty, and firm. It comes rather late into 
maturity, affords an abundant yield, and is much used 



INDIAN CORN. 45 

for fattening swine. Mixed with either of the white 
gourd-seed varieties the Yellow Gourd- Seed is produced, 
which is often mistaken for an original form. 

6. Southern Small Yellow Com. — The ears of this 
sort are more slender, as well as shorter, than the last 
named variety ; the grains are smaller, though of the 
same form, of a deeper yellow, more firm and flinty, and 
contain an abundance of oil, which renders them more 
valuable for the purposes of shipping, or for feeding to 
poultry and swine. Although it is less productive than 
the big yellow, it ripens earlier, and consequently is 
sooner out of the reach of the autumnal frosts. Some 
valuable hybrids have been produced between this and 
the big yellow, the Virginian white gourd-seed, and 
other large varieties. 

White Corn. — The varieties which constitute this 
division are exceedingly variable, both as regards their 
composition and size, as well as in their yield and times 
of coming to maturity. 

1. Rhode Island White Flint-Corn. — The grains of 
this variety are about the size and shape of those of the 
Tuscarora corn, but differ from them in containing an 
abundance of a transparent and colourless oil, which 
may easily be seen through their clear, pellucid hulls. 
The farinaceous parts of the grains are white, and as 
the quantity of oil they contain is large, the flour is 
more substantial as an article of food, and less liable 
to ferment and become sour. In Rhode Island, where 
it produces an abundant yield, it is a favourite grain, 
and stands in high repute. 

2. Southern Big White Flint- Corn, having a large 
thick cob, with twelve rows of kernels, much resem- 
bling, in shape and size, those of the big yellow, and 
like that variety, is less productive than the white 
Virginian gourd-seed. It contains more starch, and 
less oil than the northern flint-corn ; but is much 
softer and a better food for horses, though not so fat- 
tening to poultry and swine. When ground into meal, 
It is apt to become sour, and consequently is unfit to be 



46 MEMOIR ON 

shipped in that state, unless previously prepared by 
being kiln-dried. From this variety originated the 
genuine White Flint- Corn, employed for making the 
excellent hommony, so much in use in the Middle and 
Southern States. 

3. Southern Little White Flint-Corn. — The kernels 
of this variety are considerably smaller than those of 
the preceding, and much resemble them in shape ; but 
they are more firm and solid, contain more oil, and 
consequently are more valuable for feeding poultry and 
swine, and for human food. Although the cob is smaller 
in proportion to the size of the ears, the yield, per acre, 
is less abundant, and hence it is but little grown. 

4. Duiton White Flint-Corn, a variety not differing 
materially from the yellow Dutton corn, except in the 
colour of its oil. 

5. Early Canadian White Flint-Corn, cultivated 
principally for early boiling or roasting, while green. 

6. Tuscarora Com, a variety obtained from the 
Tuscarora Indians, in the state of New York. The 
ears contain from twelve to sixteen rows of grains, 
which are nearly as deep as they are broad, of a 
whitish colour on the exterior, and composed entirely 
within, of pure white dextrine and starch, except the 
germs. As it contains neither gluten nor oil, it may 
profitably be employed in the manufacture of starch. 
It is much softer, and better food for horses than the 
flinty kinds, and if used before it becomes sour, it may 
be converted into an excellent bread. 

7. White Flour-Corn. — The ears of this variety con- 
tain twelve rows of rather thick, roundish grains, whicl 
are filled with a snowy white flour, composed principally 
of starch, but does not contain either gluten or oil. It 
is much used in some parts of the country, particularly 
in New Jersey, for grinding up with buck-wheat" mixed 
in proportions of four or five to one of corn, in order 
to improve the colour and other qualities of the buck- 
wheat flour. As it possesses similar properties as the 
preceding variety, it may be profitably employed for the 
same purposes. 



INDIAN CORK. 47 

8. Virginia White Gourd- Seed Corn. — The ears of 
this corn, which are not very long, neither is the cob so 
large as those of the big white or yellow flint, contain 
from twenty-four to thirty-six rows of very long, nar- 
row grains of so soft and open a texture, that they will 
not bear transportation, by sea, unless they are pre- 
viously kiln-dried, or completely excluded from the 
moist air. These grains at their exterior ends are 
almost flat, and grow so closely together from the cob 
to the surface, that they produce a greater yield than 
any other variety, in proportion to the size of the ears. 
They contain more starch and less gluten and oil than 
those of the flint kinds ; and from their softness, they 
serve as better food for horses, but are less nourishing 
to poultry and swine. The colour of this variety is 
always white/ unless it has been crossed with other 
kinds, which may invariably be known by a small in- 
denture in the ends of the grains, when perfectly dried. 
The oily and glutinous parts of the Virginian gourd- 
seed always occur on the sides of its elongated grains, 
while the starch projects quite through to their sum- 
mits, and by contraction in drying, produces the pits 
or depressions peculiar to their ends. This variety is 
later ripe, though more productive than any other 
kind. Several valuable hybrids have been jDroduced 
by its cross fecundation with the yellow and white flinty 
sorts, among which, are the Yellow Gourd- Seed, and 
the celebrated Burden and Baden varieties, the latter of 
which, has produced as many as ten ears to a stalk ! 

9. Early Sweet or Sugar Corn, sometimes called 
Pappoon Corn. — This variety was introduced into 
Massachusetts, in 1779, by Captain Richard Bagnal, 
of Plymouth, from the country bordering on the Sus- 
quehannah, on his return from the expedition against 
the tribes of the Six Nations, under the command of 
General Sullivan. There are two kinds of this corn, 
one with the cob red, and the other white. The ears 
are short, and usually contain eight rows, the grains of 
which, when mature, are of a light colour, and become 
shrivelled and appear as if they were unripe. It con- 



48 INDIAN CORN. 

tains an unusually large proportion of the phosphates, 
and a considerable quantity of sugar and gum, though 
but little starch. It is extensively cultivated for culi- 
nary purposes, and serves as a delicious food, either 
green or dry. 

HiEMETiTE or Blood-red Corn, and Varieties op 
Different Shades. — The lively hues, peculiar to the 
red, blue, and purple corns, generally depend on 
the shades of the epidermis of the grains, and not the 
oil. The origin of these colours appears to be purely 
accidental, as white and yellow varieties have been 
planted at remote distances from any other kind, and 
have produced kernels of a brilliant red. The different 
shades of colour in corn are supposed to be caused by 
different proportions of iron, or other metals, com- 
bined with oxygen and some acid principle, acted upon 
by the rays of light. 

1. Rice Corn, a variety with small ears, the grains 
of which are of various shades of colour, and often are 
of the size and shape of rice. It contains more oil and 
less starch than any other kind ; and when ground, its 
meal cannot be made into bread alone, but is dry like 
sand. From its oily nature and convenient size, this 
corn is peculiarly adapted for feeding fowls.* 

2. Pop or Parching Corn, sometimes called Valpa- 
raiso Corn (Zea curagua, of botanists.) The ears of 
this variety are small, the grains of various shades 
of colour, and contain, next to the rice corn, more oil 
and less starch, than any other kind. Its flavour is 
pleasant, when parched, for which purpose it is generally 
preferred. This variety is believed to be the Car a of 
the Incas of Peru, which, when parched, they call Can- 
cha, signifying a neighbourhood or street. 

* See Dr. Jackson's Report, pp. 258 et 259. 



PREPARATION AND DIRECTIONS 
FOR COOKING INDIAN CORN. 

Kiln-drying. -An order to prepare Indian corn for shipping, it 
should previously undergo the process of kiln-drying, which 
is performed by parching or drying it in a heated chamber, 
or in a cylinder of wire- work, or sheet-iron, exposed over a fur- 
nace or stove, a sufficient length of time to destroy its sprouting 
or germinating power. The temperature of the chamber, in 
which it is dried, should not much exceed the boiling point of wa- 
ter, or 212° F. ; but the time required for exposing the grain should 
vary according to the openness or compactness of its texture, its 
degree of moisture or dryness, and the scarcity or abundance of the 
oil which it may contain. As a general rule, it should be removed 
from the kiln as soon as the burnt or parched odour is perceived, 
as it then begins to lose its substance or nutritive power. 

The varieties of corn that will best bear transportation by sea 
without kiln-drying, are those which contain a large proportion 
of oil, as the Golden Sioux, the King Philip or Northern Eight- 
rowed Yellow, the Dutton, the Browne, the Rhode Island White 
Flint, &c, but the flour or meal, made from these sorts is not so 
pleasant to the taste of those unaccustomed to its use, as that made 
from the soft farinaceous varieties of the South and West, which 
will be greatly improved, and preserved free from mustiness, by 
the process of kiln-drying. 

Grinding. — It has truly been said, that " No kind of grain is 
actually spoiled by grinding too fine, except Indian corn," although 
wheat is somewhat injured. But good corn bread, hommony, 
mush, and various other dishes cannot be made of flour ground too 
fine. For all ordinary purposes, the common mill employed for 
grinding wheat, answers equally well for grinding maize. When 
it is required to grind the corn coarse, it is necessary only to 
elevate ihe uppermost stone and increase its speed ; or to depress 
the stone and diminish its velocity to grind it fine. In general, 
the grits, or larger parts of the meal, should vary from one fourth 
the size of a grain of mustard to that of a grain of rice, according 
to the uses to which they are to be applied. For very exact and 
special kinds of meal, the Kibbling-mill is preferable, in many 
respects, as the size and uniformity of the grits can be regulated at 
pleasure by an indifferent hand ; whereas, in the common mill 
for grinding wheat, their degree of fineness or coarseness, depends 
entirely on the judgment and skill of the miller by regulating the 
position and velocity of the uppermost stone, and a due attention 
to feeding in the grain. 



50 



RECIPES. 



A kibbling-mill consist of " a small iron cylinder, usually 
about eight or nine inches wide, and six inches in diameter, taper- 
ing slightly to one end, and fluted on the inside. Within this, 
a barrel of the same form, but of a less size, and fluted on the 
outside, revolves by the turning of a spindle on which it is fixed. 
The meal is rendered finer or coarser in proportion as the working 
barrel is set nearer to, or farther from, the small end. This mill 
is made entirely of iron and steel, and is usually attached to a 
post. It is provided with a hopper, and is worked by a crank 
fixed at one end of the spindle, while a fly-wheel revolves at the 
other. It is used for beans, peas, and other pulse ; for malt and 
various kinds of grain, and is a very useful and ingenious con- 
trivance,, but requires care in its adjustment and general manage- 
ment."* b 



ttl$£&. 



The following recipes have been obtained from- persons of skill 
and experience in the preparation of maize for food,, several of 
them having been presented to the New- York Farmers' Club, 
with samples of cooking, which were pronounced as excellent, and 
met the entire approbation of all who tasted them. 

HOW TO BOIL GREEN CORN. 

The proper state in which to eat green corn, is at the time that 
the milk flows upon pressing the kernels with the thumb nail. It 
is best when boiled in the ear with the husks on, the latter of which 
should be stripped off when brought to the table. The ears should 
then be covered with butter, with a little salt added, and the grains 
eaten off the cob. Over-refined people think this vulgar, and shave 
them off close to the core, but in so Joing they lose much of their 
sweetness. — American Agriculturist. 



HOW TO POP OR PARCH CORN. 

Fill an iron pot with sand, and set on the fire till the sand is 
very hot. Two or three pounds ot the grain are then thrown in, 
and well mixed with the sand by stirring. Each grain bursts and 
throws out a white substance of twice (four times) its bigness. 
The sand is separated by a wire sieve, and returned into the pot 
to be again heated, and repeat the operation with fresh grain. That 

* Professor Johnsou. 



RECIPES. 51 

which is parched is pounded to a powder in mortars. This being 
sifted will keep long for use. An Indian will travel far, and sub- 
sist long on a small bag of it, taking only six or eight ounces of it 
per day, mixed with water. — Dr. Franklin. 

Modern Modes of Popping Corn. — Take a gill, a half pint, 
or more of Valparaiso- or Pop Corn, and put in a frying-pan, 
slightly buttered, or rubbed with lard. Hold the pan over a fire so 
as constantly to stir or shake the corn within, and in a few minutes 
each kernel will pop, or turn inside out, and is ready for immediate 
use. May be eaten with, or without, a little sugar or salt, added 
while hot in the pan. 

A very ingenious contrivance has been invented within a few 
years for parching corn, which, if rightly managed, surpasses every 
other mode. It consists of a box made of wire -gauze, with the 
apertures not exceeding one twentieth of an inch square, and is so 
constructed that the corn can be put within it, without being burnt., 
and can be held over a hot fire made either of wood or coal. The 
carburetted hydrogen gas, produced within the box by the decom- 
position of the oil in the corn, is prevented from explosion in a 
similar manner asjire-damp, in mines, is prevented from explosion 
by the safety-lamp. 



HOW TO MAKE SUCCOTASH. 

To about half a pound of salt pork, add 3 quarts of cold water, 
and set it to boil. Now cut off 3 quarts of green corn from the 
cobs ; set the corn aside, and put the cobs to boil with the pork, as 
they will add much to the richness of the mixture. When the 
pork has boiled, say half an hour, remove the cobs and put in 1 
quart of freshly-gathered, green, shelled beans; boil again for 
fifteen minutes ; then add the 3 quarts of corn and let it boil an- 
other fifteen minutes. Now turn the whole into a dish, add five 
or six large spoonfuls of butter, season it with pepper to your taste, 
and with salt also, if the salt of the pork has not proved sufficient. 
If the liquor has boiled away, it will be necessary to add a little 
more to it before taking it away from the fire, as this is an essen- 
tial part of the affair. — Western Farmer and Gardener. 

Succotash in Winter. — Take, when green, your corn either 
on the cob, or carefully shelled, and your beans in the pod. Dip 
them in boiling water, and carefully dry them in the shade where 
there is a free circulation of air. Pack them up in a box or bag, in 
which they should be kept in a dry place ; and succotash may be 
made from them as well in winter as in summer. — Agriculturist. 



52 RECIPES. 

HOW TO PREPARE SAMP OR HULLED 

CORN. 

Take a pint, a quart, or more, of the grains of bard, ripe flint, 
or gourd-seed corn ; soak them over night in a lessive or ley, and 
then pound them in a large wooden mortar, with a wooden pestle ; 
the skin of each grain is by that means peeled off, and the farina- 
ceous part left whole, which, being boiled, swells into a white, 
soft, pulp, and eaten with milk, or with butter and sugar, is deli- 
cious. — Dr. Franklin. 



HOW TO MAKE HOMMONY. 

Wash a pint of grits (particles of flint-corn ground to one fourth 
the size of a grain of mustard, with the liner parts of the flour 
separated by a sieve) in two or three waters, taking care each time 
to let them settle. When you pour off the water the grits must be 
well rubbed with the hands in order to separate them from the finer 
particles of flour. Then put them into a sauce-pan with a pint of 
water slightly salted, and let them boil slowly for nearly half an 
hour, occasionally stirring the mixture as soon as it begins to 
boil. 

Hommony may be boiled to any consistency, that may be pre- 
ferred, from that of mush to the dryness of rice. — A. Barclay, Esq., 
H. B. M. Consul at New York. 



HOW TO MAKE INDIAN GRUEL. 

Take 1 quart of boiling water and stir in 2 or 3 tablespoonfuls 
of finely-sifted Indian meal, previously mixed with a little cold 
water. Add salt to your liking, and let the mixture boil for fifteen 
or twenty minutes. A small quantity of pulverized crackers, 
a few raisins, or a little sugar added, will render it more palatable 
to the sick. — From, a Lady. 



HOW TO MAKE HASTY-PUDDING, 

Called Mush, by the Pennsylvanians ; Supporn, in the state of 
New York ; Stir-a-bout, in Ireland ; Polenta, in Italy ; and Apt, 
by the ancient Peruvians. Boil a quart, 3 pints, or 2 quarts of 
water, according to the size of your family. Stir into a bowl of 
cold water, 5 or 6 tablespoonfuls of fine Indian meal, and pour it 
into the kettle of water as soon as it begins to boil. Stir the mix- 
ture well, add salt to your taste, and let it boil down to a 
thick gruel. Then sprinkle in, handful by handful, finely-sifted 



MBMaaiM Haa«iaooflnaaPM » i n » wwp i 



RECIPES. 53 

Indian meal, stirring - briskly all the while with a wooden spatula 
or slice, until it is sufficiently stiff to need a strong- hand. It 
usually requires about half of an hour to be thoroughly cooked. 
May be eaten with milk, butter, sugar, or molasses. — A Lady. 

Fried Hasty-Pudding. — Cut the pudding, when cold, into slices 
half of an inch thick, and fry them brown, on both sides, in a little 
butter or lard, and it serves as an excellent substitute for potatoes 
or buck-wheat cakes. If made of the meal of white or yellow 
flint-corn, a small quantity of wheaten or rye flour should be 
added to the mush, while cooking, to prevent its crumbling when 
fried. — Ibid. 



HOW TO MAKE BOILED INDIAN PUDDING. 

Boil a quart of milk, and stir in Indian meal till it is nearly as 
thick as you can stir it with a spoon ; then add a teaspoonful of salt, 
a cupful of molasses, a teaspoonful of ginger, or ground cinnamon, 
and cold milk enough to make a thin batter. Boil in a thick bag 
four hours. Care should be taken that the water does not stop 
boiling while the pudding is in. A dish made in this way, with the 
addition of a quart of chopped, sweet apples, and baked from four 
to six hours will be found delicious, when served up hot and eaten 
with sauce made of drawn-butter, nutmeg, and wine. — A Lady. 

The Farmer's Own Pudding. — Take 3 lbs. of northern yellow 
corn meal, 1 lb. of beef suet, 1 lb. of dried currants, half a teaspoon- 
ful of salseratus, and incorporate the whole, while dry, well to- 
gether in a large dish. Then add,and continually stir, lg pints of 
molasses, and a sufficient quantity of boiling-hot water to reduce 
the mixture to the thickness of common mush, and let it stand over 
night in a moderately warm place. The next morning, tie up the 
whole in a wide-mouthed bag, taking care to leave room enough 
within, to allow the pudding to swell, and incessantly boil for four 
or five hours. This pudding may be eaten while hot, with, or 
without sauce, and will be sufficiently large to feed twenty men. 
One half, or one fourth of the quantity of ingredients may be em- 
ployed, and treated in the same manner as the whole. — A Lady. 



HOW TO MAKE BAKED INDIAN PUDDING. 

To 2 quarts of milk, add 1 quart of meal, a little salt, and a cupful 
of sugar. Prepare by heating the milk over the fire, stirring it 
occasionally to prevent its burning ; when it nearly boils, remove 
it, put in the salt and sugar, and scatter in the meal, stirring 
rapidly to prevent its collecting into lumps ; put in nutmeg and 
turn into a deep pan. Bake immediately, or otherwise, as may be 
convenient, in a hot oven, three hours. When it has baked an 



»—wM»n»i «mni —mimt— — wn— — m— 



54 RECIPES. 

hour or more, pour over the pudding from a gill to a half pint of 
milk ; this will soften the crust and form a delicious whey. 

An inferior pudding may be made by substituting skimmed milk 
and molasses, with allspice or ginger, for seasoning. This is the 
common Yankee pudding. Variations can be made by adding 
chopped suet, apples, peaches, berries, or raisins. — Burriit. 

Suffolk County, L. I., Indian Pudding. — Heat 3 half pints of 
milk to boiling; mix your corn meal with a half pint of cold milk, 
the meal having been previously sifted ; and pour the cold milk 
and meal into the boiling milk, stirring continuously. When 
scalded, take it off the fire and let it cool down to blood warm. Then 
mix in 10 eggs, previously beaten, until they will stand alone, a 
little salt, a quarter of a teaspoonful of ground nutmeg, a quarter of 
a teaspoonful of cinnamon, a teaspoonful of allspice or pimento; 
sweeten with sugar or molasses ; stir in a pinch of ground ginger, 
a pinch of grated dried lemon peel, a teaspoonful of butter, and bake. 
Good either hot or cold. — From Professor Mapes. 

Prescott Pudding. — Take a teacupful of fine Indian meal, and 
a pint Gf molasses well mixed. Add, by constantly stirring, a quart 
of hot, boiling milk, a piece of butter of the size of an English 
walnut, 3 eggs, and a teaspoonful of salt. Pour the mixture into 
a buttered pan, and bake in a moderately hot oven three hours. 
This pudding was much used in the family of the late Judge Pres- 
cott, of Boston, in Massachusetts, from whose lady this recipe was 
obtained. 



HOW TO MAKE CORN BREAD. 

In stopping at Bement's American Hotel, in Albany, a few 
weeks since, I do not know when I relished any food better than I 
did some excellent corn bread, which I found on his breakfast 
table. I was so well pleased with the article, as well as with the 
general character of his house, that I begged of him to furnish me 
with a recipe for making it, which is as follows : — 

Take 3 quarts of milk, a little sour, 7 eggs, 2 ounces of butter, 
one teaspoonful of salseratus, and mix with Indian meal, to the 
consistency of a thick batter, and bake with a strong heat. The 
pans used for baking are of tin, 8 inches in diameter, lg inches 
deep, and a little bevelled. The above is sufficient for seven or 
eight loaves. — American Agriculturist. A Traveller. 

Indian Bannock. — Take 1 quart of sifted meal, 2 great spoon- 
fuls of molasses, 2 teaspoonfuls of salt, a bit of shortening half as 
big as a hen's egg, stirred together; make it pretty moi:*t with 
scalding water ; put it into a well greased pan ; smooth over the 
surface with a spoon, and bake it brown on both sides, before a 
quick fire. A little stewed pumpkin, scalded with the meal, im- 
proves the taste. Bannock split and dipped in butter makes very 
i)ice toast. — From a Lady. 



RECIPES. 55 

Superior Corn BREAD.^Take 1 quart of sour milk, add the 
beaten yolks of 8 eggs and a handful of Indian meal, briskly 
stirring the mixture while adding the meaL To this add 
a half teaspoonful of salseratus, 2 tablespoonfuls of melted 
butter, and stir in alternately the beaten white of the eggs, and a 
sufficient quantity of meal to form a smooth batter of the consis- 
sistency of hasty-pudding. Then quickly turn the mixture into 
well buttered tins, and bake in a brisk oven. The time required 
for baking will depend upon the size and thickness of the bread. 
For smaller parcels one half or one fourth of the above-named 
materials may be used. — From Judson's Hotel, 61 Broadway, N. Y. 

A Rich Corn Bread. — I send you a receipt for making corn 
bread, such as is used at every meal at my house. I have stopped 
at nearly all the fashionable hotels in the Union, and never have 
found anything that has equalled it. It should be tried by every 
one who wishes to have a superior bread. 

Take 1 egg well beaten, a half pint of thick cream, Indian meal 
sufficient to form a thick batter, a small quantity of salt ; add half 
a teaspoonful of salceratus, dissolved in a small quantity of water ; 
after mixing thoroughly, put it into the pans or oven, and bake 
immediate] y.^- American Agriculturist. 

Centreville, Miss., April 15, 1846. E. J. Caeell. 

Excellent Hommony Bread. — Break 2 eggs into a bowl and 
beat them from five to ten minutes. Add, by continually stirring, a 
salt-spoon of table salt, 4 or 5 tablespoonfuls of hot hommony 
reduced nearly to the consistency of thick gruel with hot milk, 1 
large spoonful of butter, and a pint of scalded Indian meal squeezed 
dry. Make up the mixture into small loaves or round cakes lg 
inches thick, and bake in a brisk oven. — From A. Barclay, Esq., 
H. B. M. Consul at New York. 

Epicure's Corn Bread. — Upon 2 quarts of sifted corn meal 
pour just enough boiling water to scald it thoroughly ; if too much 
water is used it will be heavy. Stir it thoroughly, and let it get cold ; 
then rub in a piece of butter as large as a hen's egg, together with 
2 teaspoonfuls of fine salt; beat 4 eggs thoroughly, which will be 
all the better if the whites and yolks are beaten separately, and add 
them to the meal and mix thoroughly. Next, add a pint of sour 
cream, butter-milk, or sour milk ( which stand in the, order of 
their value.) Dissolve 2 teaspoonfuls of salaeratus in hot water, 
and stir it in. Put it in buttered pans and bake it. 

In winter it may be mixed over night and in that case, the eggs 
and salaeratus should no' - be put in. until morning. When ready 
for the oven, the mixture ought to be about as thin as good musk-, 
if not, more cream should be added. 

If you are not an epicure already, you will be in danger of be- 
coming one, if you eat much of this corn cake — provided it is well 
made. — Beecher's Western^ Farmers^ and Gardeners' Almanac. 




66 RECIPES. 

Hoosier Biscuit. — Add a teaspoonful of salt to a pint of new 
milk, warm from the cow. Stir in flour until it becomes a stiff 
batter; add 2 great spoonfuls of lively brewer's yeast; put it in a 
warm place and let it rise j list as much as it will. When well 
raised, stir in a teasponful of salaeratus dissolved in hot water. 
Beat up 3 eggs, (2 will answer.) stir with the batter, and add flour 
until it becomes tolerably stiff dough ; knead it thoroughly, set it 
by the fire until it begins to rise, then roll out, cut to biscuit form, 
put in pans, cover it over with a thick cloth, set by the fire until it 
raises again, then bake in a quick oven. If well made, no direc- 
tion will be needed for eating. [This bread is thought to be im- 
proved by adding to the mixture a small quantity of Indian meal.] 

As all families are not provided with scales and weights, refer- 
ring to ingredients generally used in cakes and pastry, we subjoin 
a list of weights and measures. 

WEIGHT AND MEASURE. 

"Wheat flour, 1 pound is 1 quart. 

Indian meal, 1 pound, 2 ounces, is 1 quart. 

Butter, when soft, 1 pound, 1 ounce, is 1 quart. 

Loaf-sugar, broken, 1 pound is 1 quart. 
White sugar, powder'd, 1 pound, 1 ounce, is 1 quart. 

Best brown sugar, 1 pound, 2 ounces, is 1 quart. 

Eggs, average size, 10 eggs are 1 pound. 

LIQ.UID MEASURE. 

Sixteen large tablespoonfuls are half a pint. 

Eight large tablespoon fuls are one gilL 

Four large tablespoonfuls are half a gill. 

A common sized tumbler holds half a pint. 

A common sized wine glass holds half a gill. 

Allowing for accidental differences in the quality, freshness, 
dryness, and moisture of the articles, we believe this comparison 
between weight and measure to be nearly correct.— Ibid. 

Boston Brown BREAD.-Take 1 quart of rye meal, 2 quarts 
of Indian, (if not fresh, scald it,) half a teacupful of molasses, 2 
teaspoonfuls of salt, I teaspoonful of salaeratus, 1 tea-cup of 
home-brewed veast, or half the quantity of distillery yeast, make it 
as stiff as can 'be stirred with a spoon, with warm water, and let it 
rise from night till morning. Then put it into a large, deep pan, 
smooth the top with the hand, dipped in cold water, let it stand a 
few minutes, and then bake in an oven five or six hours If put 
in late in the day, it may remain in the oven over night— Mm* 
Beecher's Domestic Receipt Book. 



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